Anibal Sanchez

Turning Point?

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As I listened to the Tigers 2-1 victory over the Royals this afternoon, I kept waiting for the implosion.  After what we’ve seen from this team over the last 30 games, can you blame me?

The Royals scored in the top of the first, “oh no, another terrible start by a Tigers starter?”

Sanchez pitched 7 innings, allowed five hits, one run, and walked only one.

In the bottom of the fourth, Miggy gets picked off of second base. J.D. Martinez follows with a home run to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. “Watch they’ll  lose 3-2.”

They didn’t.

When Joba took over for Sanchez in the 8th, “its Joba’s turn to melt down.”

He didn’t.

When Nathan came on in the ninth to close the game, “another blown save”.

He struck out the side.

Today the stars aligned.  The Tigers got a quality start, a few runs, overcame a few mistakes and pulled within 1/2 game of the Royals.

Is this a turning point or an anomaly?

We’ll see.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

 

Tigers 12 Twins 9

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The Tigers got a win but it was ugly.  They had an 11-1 lead but needed four relief pitchers to hold off the Twins.

Anibal Sanchez pitched 6.1 innings and allowed three earned runs.  He turned the game over to the pen and then the game degenerated into the theater of the absurd.

Ausmus needed Evan Reed, Phil Coke, Al Alburquerque, and Ian Krol to close out the game.

The Tigers are fortunate that Joe Mauer is struggling or this game could have slipped away.  Mauer was 0-5 and left six runners on base.

I wrote briefly yesterday about this team being out sync and it showed again today.  Luckily the offense scored 12 runs because this bullpen is horrible.

The rubber game starts tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Blue Jays 5 Tigers 3

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This one may surprise you but I’m not putting this one on Joe Nathan.  I’m not a big fan of his and he did pitch himself into a jam in the 9th but he also pitched well enough to get out of it.  This one belongs to Andrew Romine.

What in the sam hell was he doing on the ground ball Bautista hit?  Can someone please explain why he stutter stepped?  Who did he think was supposed to field the ball.

Tigers fans we have a problem.  The left side of the infield is horrible.  Romine and Castellanos besides not fielding aren’t doing anything at the plate either.

I guess the good news is that Anibal Sanchez has established himself as the ace of this staff.  Over this abominable two week stretch, I think the Tigers have gotten four quality starts.  Three of them are from Sanchez who was absolutely smokin balls!  He shut out the Jays for seven innings?  With the way they’ve been hitting?  He looks like JV did during his Cy Young year.

Joba was good again tonight, but besides him, is there anyone the Tigers can count on out of the pen?

This thing is a mess!

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

 

Disaster

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In tennis, when you break the other player’s serve, winning the very next game when you are serving is called consolidating the break.

Tonight was a game the Tigers needed to consolidate the break in their awful run of games during the last 10 days.  They pulled out a gutsy win yesterday but needed today’s game to get them on track.

They got an absolutely lights-out, ball smokin, performance from Anibal Sanchez.  He allowed only three hits in eight and a third innings but couldn’t get any help from his friends.

Joe Nathan blew his fourth save of the season surrendering a three run homer to Josh Donaldson in the bottom of the ninth.

Despite only scoring one run, I had a good feeling about this game, even after Sanchez gave up a one out double to Coco Crisp which brought in Nathan.

But the optimism quickly turned to despair.  The first batter Nathan faced was John Jaso who hit a line drive that went off of Nick Castellanos’s glove into left field.  I have no idea how Jaso was given a hit.  This was an E5 all day long.  If your third basemen can’t make that play, you aren’t going to win.

Here’s some food for thought:

  • Perhaps substituting DK for Castellanos late in close games would be a good idea.
  • The left side of the Tigers infield is a problem.
  • The Tigers still need a closer.

Another deep deep breath.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

 

Take a deep breath…

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this is a 162 game season and the Tigers are going through a rough patch.  It’s concerning because the slump began with Smyly’s start last Monday and continued through the rotation, with the exception of Sanchez, and extended through Smyly’s start yesterday.

This is a rare instance when I’m going to stick up for the offense.  It has to be demoralizing to come to the plate and be down four runs in the first or second inning.

Here’s my remedy to end this streak:

  • The offense has to score early
  • One person on the staff has to step up, starter or reliever
  • Romine has to go at short.  His fielding is an abomination.  I’m not sure Worth is any better but Romine has been embarrassing.  On that note, Castellanos isn’t looking good defensively either.
  • I won’t mention Hunter again.  Yet.

Simple right?

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural.

 

Much Better…

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The Tigers got great starting pitching and timely hitting and halted their four game losing streak by beating the Rangers 7-2.

Anibal went seven innings and was very good.  He allowed only two runs on five hits, struck out five and walked zero.

Ian Krol pitched a scoreless ninth but he doesn’t make me feel comfortable.  I can’t put my finger on it, and his line looks good, but I get an odd feeling when he toes the slab.

The Good News:

Freeway Rick is pitching tomorrow’s game.

The Bad News:

I can’t go.  I’m still having back problems and can’t sit upright long enough to make it through the game.

Such is Life.

I’m expecting Ricky to be smokin balls tomorrow afternoon.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

TIGERS COMPLETE SWEEP…

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Thrash Red Sox 6-2.

Other than the two errors, one by Avila and one by DK, that should have been charged to Avila, this was a thorough ass kicking.  The Tigers strolled into Fenway Park and beat the Sox into a conniption in every facet of each game.

The beating couldn’t have been administered to a nicer bunch of shit dogs.

Off to Cleveland tomorrow with Smyly against Kluber.

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Freeway Rick does it again…

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he beat the Red Sox into a conniption one more time. Behind eight masterful innings from Tigers’ Ace, and AL Cy Young leader, the Tigers took the Red Sox out behind the woodshed and put the boots to them, but good, thoroughly thrashing them 6-1.

Ricky’s performance harkens me back to a gray, rainy day at Fenway Park in 2009. The shit birds from Boston decided to play tough guy and threw at Tigers hitters, Miggy, if my memory serves me correctly.  When it was the Sox turn to bat, a 20 year old rookie took to the hill.  He knocked down then Red Sox tough guy, Kevin Youkilis and showed the league that a crime against the Detroit Tigers would not go unpunished.  The bald, portly Red Sox hitter charged the mound.  When he arrived, he was in for a big surprise.  The fresh faced, 20 year old, rookie, Tigers, pitcher tossed Youk to the ground like a pile of trash.  And if not for outside intervention and Christian Grace, Youk would have been handed a beating he would not soon forget.

The young Tigers pitcher that day, the 20 year old from New Jersey, was non other than Frederick Alfred Porcello, aka Freeway Ricky.

Five years later, Freeway Rick put it to the Sox again in Fenway.  He threw eight complete, struck out four, walked one and allowed a lucky earned run.

Freeway Ricky was dominant.  The Red Sox didn’t belong on the same field.

If it wasn’t for Porcello’s mastery, I’d be talking about Phil Coke’s nice ninth inning or Miggy’s 3-5 day at the plate.

With no disrespect to the rest of the Tigers team, this was Freeway Ricky’s day. He reached back like a pimp and gave the Red Sox an 18th of May they will never, ever, forget.

Sanchez on the hill tomorrow for the sweep.

Has anybody noticed Miggy is 3rd in the AL in RBIs?

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Twins 5 Tigers 3

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The Twins were able to even up the series with a 5-3 over the Tigers today.  Anibal Sanchez started but only lasted 2 2/3.  He had to come out of the game because of a blister problem.

The bullpen was a nightmare, Miggy was disappointing, the Tigers lost and it wasn’t pretty.

The Good:

  • The Tigers scored two early runs staking Sanchez to an early 2-0 lead.

The Bad:

  • After the first inning the offense made Phil Hughes look like Greg Maddux.

The Ugly:

  • Fours were wild for Jose Ortega, who was an abject nightmare.  He “relieved” Sanchez and couldn’t find the plate.  He allowed four earned runs in one and a third.  He allowed four hits, walked four and and struck out one.

I’m actually not sure what to say about Phil Coke.  His final line isn’t that bad.  He pitched two and two thirds.  He didn’t allow a run, struck out two, walked two, and gave up two hits.  I guess twos were wild for Phil.  Perhaps he was only half as bad as Ortega?   I guess the problem with Coke’s pitching today is that he couldn’t strand any inherited runners.  Like I said, I’m not sure what to say about Phil but he doesn’t past the eye test.

Miggy.  It is hard to pick on the back to back MVP but I was horrified with his at bat in the eighth.  He came up with bases loaded, one out, and the Tigers down by two.  All the Tigers needed was one of his patented hits to right field.  Instead, the suddenly pull happy Cabrera, hits a low, inside fastball, to third base.  The Twins turned an easy double play and the inning was over.  Again, I don’t have the words.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow.

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

 

 

White Sox 3 Tigers 1

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This is looking like an old, familiar, theme.  All pitching and no offense.  Like most of the last few years, if the Tigers don’t get shut down pitching, they aren’t going to win.

Anibal wasn’t great, but holding the opposition to three runs, ain’t bad either. Unfortunately, the Tigers could only manage one run.

The Good:

  • He only lasted 6 and 1/3 but Sanchez’s outing should have been good enough.
  • The bullpen. Ian Krol, Even Reed and Justin Miller shut the Sox out for 2 and 2/3.

The Bad:

  • This offense is embarrassing.  The Tigers managed only one run on five hits.
  • The defense, two more errors today.

The Ugly:

  • Miggy took another ofer and is now hitting .206

I know we’re only three weeks in but, THEY’RE MAKIN’ ME MAD!!!

On another note, I just finished Bob Feller’s Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom, and found another great quote.  Feller said trying to throw a fastball by Teddy Ballgame was like trying to get a ray of sunlight past a rooster at 4:30 am.

 

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural